HEPATITIS-C VIRUS GENOTYPES, REACTIVITY TO RECOMBINANT IMMUNOBLOT ASSAY-2 ANTIGENS AND LIVER-DISEASE

To clarify the relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and liver disease, we typed HCV genomes in the sera of 151 blood donor s, 180 patients with type C chronic liver disease (CLD), and 30 haemop hiliacs residing in Hiroshima, Japan. All of the subjects were positiv e for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA, and were examined for seroreactivity to HC V-specific antigens. The HCV genotypes were determined by polymerase c hain reaction (PCR) with type-specific primers deduced from the putati ve core region of the HCV genome. Significantly more (P < 0.001) type II HCV was found in the samples from the CLD patients (80%) than in th ose from the blood donors (55%). Significantly more (P < 0.001) type I II HCV was found in the samples from the blood donors (29.1%) than in those from the CLD patients (11.7%). There was no significant differen ce in the distribution of the HCV types among the patients with chroni c active hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. A f our-antigen recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA-2) assay was used to co mpare the serum samples for their reactivity to a range of structural and nonstructural peptides specific for HCV (5-1-1, C100-3, C33c, and C22-3). The frequency of seropositivity to 5-1-1 and C100-3 was signif icantly higher (P < 0.001) in type II HCV-infected blood donors than i n type III HCV-infected donors (68.2% and 65.9% vs. 4.5% and 22.7%, re spectively). Among the type III HCV-infected individuals, the CLD pati ents had a significantly higher (P < 0.01) frequency of seropositivity to 5-1-1 than the blood donors (33.3% vs. 4.5%). These results sugges t that type II HCV is more likely than type III HCV to induce clinical disease, and further, that the difference in the extent of synthesis of the viral protein (5-1-1) between these types may play a role in th e pathogenicity of HCV. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.